Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records. It was released in North America a week later on 31 October by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there. It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album."Metal Edge, June 1996

The album featured one newly recorded song, "When Love & Hate Collide", which was released as a single on 2 October 1995.

The collection's track listing varied by region, although none of the releases had any songs from the band's 1980 debut album, On Through the Night on the track listings.

On 23 October 1995, to promote the release of Vault, the band played acoustic shows on three continents in one day: Tangiers, Morocco in Africa; London, England, UK in Europe; and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in North America. The feat also made the Guinness Book of World Records.

Overview

One new track was recorded for this collection, "When Love & Hate Collide", previously a leftover from the Adrenalize recording sessions. The ballad became the band's joint highest-charting single in the UK, along with 1992's "Let's Get Rocked", hitting No. 2 in the fall of 1995.

The songs are the original album versions, with the following exceptions: "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is the video edit version. This version actually features an extended, distorted intro, making it longer than the Hysteria version, which has the shorter "Step inside, walk this way" intro. "Rocket" is the single edit, which runs around two and a half minutes shorter than its Hysteria album counterpart. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" fades out slightly earlier than the High 'n' Dry version, as the High 'n' Dry version segues into "Switch 625", except the North American release.

Artwork, design, and packaging The art direction and design for Vault was handled by Exquisite Corpse with photography by Cythia Levine and Ross Halfin. Most covers of the album have a picture of an actual vault, while a limited edition two disc collection has a picture of a green eye with a combination lock inside the pupil. The CD liner notes featured a three-page summary of the band's history by Peter Mensch, who appeared in two of the group's music videos. Although not featured on the North American release, other liner notes feature a note signed by the band members talking about the group's upcoming album, Slang.

Track listing

Personnel The following people contributed to Vault: Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals, producer, piano on "Miss You in a Heartbeat" Steve Clark – guitars, backing vocals Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals, producer Rick Savage – bass, backing vocals, producer Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals, producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, backing vocals Nigel Green – engineer Pete Willis – guitars, backing vocals Mike Shipley – mixing, producer, engineer Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals, producer Pete Woodroffe – producer, engineer, piano on "Miss You in a Heartbeat" Michael Kamen – string arrangements on "Two Steps Behind" and "When Love & Hate Collide" Stevie Vann – backing vocals on "When Love & Hate Collide" Randy Kerber – piano on "When Love & Hate Collide" Bob Ludwig – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) Chart (1995) Peakposition Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 1Estonia Top CD Albums (Eesti Top 10) 6European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) 7 French Compilations Find "DEF LEPPARD" under the drop-down menu to see statistics. 24Irish Albums (IRMA) 1Japanese Albums (Oricon) 9Portuguese Albums (AFP) 4UK Albums (GfK Chart-Track) 1 Chart (1996) Peakposition

Chart (2018) Peakposition

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) Chart (1995) Position UK Albums (OCC) 30 Chart (1996) Position US Billboard 200 72Chart (2002)PositionCanadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)44 Chart (2018) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 80

Certifications

References

External links